


Sabotage!!!

by whereareyoucas



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Activism, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, M/M, Mutant Rights, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7965943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whereareyoucas/pseuds/whereareyoucas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles and Raven are student mutant rights activists, and attempt some sabotage. Things don't go exactly to plan, and while Charles may be terrible at improv, he is amazing at cheesy chat up lines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sabotage!!!

**Author's Note:**

> they’re 18ish, in their first year of uni so haven’t got full control of their powers yet :)) it's also lowkey set in the 70s. thankyou for reading!

The darkness of the early autumn evening gave Charles and Raven cover as they slipped into one of the science buildings in Oxford. Once they were in the corridor, with a closed door behind them and an open doorway ahead of them leading to reception, they stopped.

“So, the plan, one last time,” Raven whispered quietly, then tapped her forehead. Charles recognised the signal to talk to her telepathically.

**_Is this alright?_** he asked, and Raven nodded.

**_Ok, so the security guard-_** Raven began.

**_Harris_ ** **,** Charles offered.

**_Harris, has his tea at exactly 8:30pm every night from the machine over there. Tonight, the tea is drugged, and he’ll be asleep in less than 5 minutes_ ** _.  _ Raven punctuated this with a glance at her watch. It was 8:29.

**_We sneak past, and find lab 11._** Charles continued. **_You’ll get us in with the thumb scan you’ve been practicing_** _,_ at this Raven lifted her hand and demonstrated shape-shifting her thumb to what looked like a young man’s. **_Good. Then, the keys should be hanging just by the door._**

**_Then we get into the filing cabinet and destroy the research papers,_** Raven finished triumphantly.

**_I almost feel bad for destroying someone’s work for their PhD_** Charles fretted.

**_Charles. Stryker took that mutant’s DNA illegally, and who knows what he’s going to do with the research. He could use it for evil purposes, he could use it to hurt someone-_ **

**_Of course you’re right, yes. Ok,_** Charles sighed, **_let’s do it._**

**_Can you check if he’s asleep yet?_ ** Raven asked.

Charles nodded and reached out tentatively with his power. Then he froze.

“Shit,” Charles said, then covered his mouth, afraid of being heard.  **_Shit! It’s not Harris, it’s someone else!_ **

**_Shit!_ ** Raven replied, eyes wide. 

Slowly and carefully, the two of them poked their heads round the doorway so as to get a glimpse of the security guard that was not Harris. Charles had just enough time to read ‘Erik’ on the nametag before he ducked his head back, in synchronisation with Raven.

**_He looks mean_ ** Raven pointed out, biting her lip slightly.

**_What the hell do we do now?_ ** Charles wondered.

**_Shh, let me think._ **

Charles watched in confusion as Raven stepped back and then shifted into a catering outfit. She winked at Charles before waltzing confidently into the reception. 

Charles ebbed concern at her, but she disregarded it.  **_Don’t worry, I’m not as bad at improv as you, Charles. And if I seem confident enough, he won’t question me._ **

Charles had no other option but to press his back to the wall and listen to Raven talking to Erik and hope that whatever plan she had would work.

“Hi there. Can I offer you some tea?” Charles heard Raven ask Erik alluringly. Charles couldn’t decide whether to be impressed with how seductive Raven made that sound, or totally grossed out by his little sister’s blatant sexuality.

“No, thank you,” Erik replied cooly. Damn.

“Harris always has tea now though. It’s good, are you sure you don’t want some?” Raven pushed.

“I’m sure.” Erik’s voice was resolute. This evidently put Raven off a bit, as her voice raised a few octaves with nerves.

“But… tea?” Just as Raven had thought, once she lost her confidence, the security guy had began to get suspicious. 

“I don’t want any tea. Who are you exactly?” Now was a good time for Raven to get out, Charles thought worriedly. He was onto her.

“Uh, catering. I usually get Harris a-”

“Let me guess, a tea” Erik finished sarcastically. “Can I see your identification then?”

“I think I left it at home. It’s fine, I’ll just go,” Raven laughed before ducking out of the room, passing Charles then opening the door and letting it shut loudly, so that Erik would believe she’d left.

**_Good try,_ ** Charles comforted.  **_But what do we do now?_ **

**_I don’t know, but we have to do something. Tomorrow it’ll be too late, Stryker’s handing it in in the morning and then the lecturer will photocopy it and we’ll lose track of it completely._ ** Raven hesitated for a second, and Charles could tell she was about to suggest something he wouldn't like.  **_Send him to sleep, Charles._ **

**_No, no way. Last time I sent someone to sleep, they didn’t wake up for three days. I have to get more of a reign on that aspect of my power before trying it on another unsuspecting member of the public._ **

**_But-_ **

**_This man is not the enemy, Raven. I refuse to risk hurting him._ **

**_Fine._ ** Raven conceded.  **_You’ll just have to distract him then. Stop him from making his rounds, and from looking at the security screens._ **

Charles groaned.  **_I’m not good at distracting people, I’m terrible at improv. Can’t you do it?_ ** he whined. He knew the answer before Raven thought it at him.

**_I’m the one with the thumb, remember? You’ll do fine Charles, and if something goes wrong, if worst comes to worst you can mind control him or something._ **

Charles sighed resignedly.  **_Fine. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that though. His thoughts are naturally quite shielded already, I wouldn’t want to cause any damage by breaking into his mind without permission._ **

**_Ok, good. You’ll do fine, now go! Flaunt it,_ **  Raven encouraged, before giving Charles an encouraging push, sending him stumbling through the doorway. 

Erik looked up at him in askance. Be confident, be convincing, Charles told himself, and so waltzed towards the desk, pursing his lips in an attempt at seduction, testing the waters. Erik’s eyes wandered down Charles body, lingering on his lips for a second, before snapping back to his eyes and narrowing in a glare. Well, at least it was a better response than Raven got, Charles thought, and quickly decided on an action plan. He was going to act dumb and flirty, like they did in the movies when they needed to distract the security guards. The act felt unnatural and obvious to Charles, but he didn’t have time to think of a better plan right now. He wasn’t kidding when he’d said he was bad at improv. Plus, Erik was quite attractive, so it wasn’t like Charles was being dishonest by leading him on.

“Yes?” Erik asked, as Charles stood there, with a blank expression.

“Hello, uh,” Charles made a show of reading Erik’s name tag, “Erik. I seem to be a bit lost,” Charles said, then smiled with what he hoped was a shit tonne of charm.

Erik rolled his eyes. “You’re in the Biology block. As you can see by the massive sign above my head.”

Charles almost frowned at the sarcasm in Erik’s voice, but covered it with a giggle and an ‘oops’.

“There’s a map over there if you need further guidance,” Erik reported to Charles, then looked back down to his desk, plainly dismissing Charles, who wasn’t having any of it.

“I can’t read maps,” Charles said.

Erik appraised him once again, suspicion flicking across his stern features again. Well, at least it wasn’t disgust, Charles thought.

“Are you a student here?” Erik asked, blatantly insinuating that he didn’t think Charles clever enough to be a university student.

Charles nodded earnestly, to Erik’s scoff, and his loud thought of  **_bet he’s an art student._ **

“Excuse me, I am not an art student. And art students aren’t dumb either, they-” Charles retorted, before backpedalling at the sight of Erik’s surprised countenance. He’d accidentally overheard Erik’ thoughts. “Uh, because I bet you were assuming I’m an art student, correct? Because you think they’re stupid?”

Apparently this worked, because Charles could feel Erik’s guilt at having insulted Charles, albeit mixed with some confusion. To make up for this, Erik asked Charles what subject he  _ did _ do if it wasn’t art. Charles was momentarily distracted by the sight of Raven on one of the security screens behind Erik wandering around corridors, that he answered without thinking.

“Genetics.” He mentally kicked himself.

“You have classes in this building then? You can’t be lost,” Erik declared. However there was no venom in the accusation, more curiosity. It seemed Charles had suitably got Erik’s attention.

“Ah. You got me, I’m not lost,” Charles smiled. His dumb flirty act was over, and he desperately tried to think of another reason for him to be there. “I was actually… uh… I’m thinking about applying to be campus security for some extra money, actually and I wanted to ask you about it.” Erik raised his eyebrows, and then simply nodded, signalling for Charles to go ahead. “Uh, you’re new, right? Harris is usually here on Tuesdays.”

“No, he’s ill. I just temp occasionally. I don’t think students can get a permanent position as security, it’ll take too much time from your studies,” Erik explained.

“You’re a student though, aren’t you?” Charles asked. He frowned as he saw Raven on the screen struggling to get into one of the labs.

“Yeah, but I only come in when someone else can’t make it, which isn’t very often.”

“Uh, what do you study?”

“Engineering Science,” Erik said. Charles nodded in interest. “No offence intended, but I don’t think you’d really stick it being a security guard anyway.You need to look intimidating, you just look kind of… adorable,” Erik said, frowning. 

“You think I’m adorable?” Charles asked, and then blushed as Erik smiled at him. 

His attention was ripped away from watching Raven on the security schemes, as his hormones kicked in and he realised he could possibly get a date out of this night.

“But you’ve got the scowly demeanour down to a T, my friend. And you look strong… do you work out?” 

Ok, so that was the cheesiest line ever, but that was Charles’ style.

Erik frowned again. “Wait a second,” and Charles’ heart stopped as Erik leaned back in his chair. Shit, shit, shit Charles thought, he’d overdone it. Erik’s realised Charles’ game, trust him to realise just as Charles started acting like himself. “You’re not interested in becoming a security guard at all, do you?” Oh god, he was about to accuse Charles of sabotage, Charles and Raven were going to be arrested, and kicked out of college. However, just as Charles’ palms began to sweat with nerves, he sensed an ebb of insecurity from Erik, and then almost sagged with relief. He’d skimmed Erik’s thoughts, and Erik wasn’t about to accuse him of illegal activities- he was wondering if Charles had come here to chat him up.

“Oh, damn, you got me,” Charles burst out, beaming with relief. “I’ve got to admit, I’ve seen you round before Erik, and this is so embarrassing, but… I wanted to get your number.”

Erik smirked, and then said, “Yeah, I’ve seen you around before too.”

Charles grinned. It hadn’t been a lie- he’d just realised that he had seen Erik around before, and had noted his attractiveness. This night was definitely turning out to be alright, Charles thought, as he reached inside his bag to get out a piece of paper for him to write down his phone number.

When he pulled his notebook out though, he also dislodged his travelling chess set which had been haphazardly lodged in his bag after a game with Hank earlier in the afternoon.

One of the pawns rolled over to Erik’s foot, and he picked it up, looking at it with interest.

Charles didn’t exactly want to leave yet- he was having fun talking to Erik, so he suggested to him that they play a game of chess.

“I shouldn’t really… I haven’t done my rounds yet,” Erik said, though he sounded tempted.

The mention of his rounds rang a bell in Charles’ head, and he remembered what he was doing at Erik’s desk in the first place.

“Come on, just one game,” Charles said persuasively.

“Ok, black or white?” Erik asked, giving in easily with a grin.

They set up the board on the counter, Erik still in his chair, and Charles standing against it. They began the game, and Charles was surprised at how skilled Erik was. He was possibly even a better opponent than Hank. No matter how good the game was though, it still didn’t get very far. Charles was leaning across the board to get a better look at the layout of the pieces, when Erik teased him about his face of concentration.

When Charles looked up, he realised how close their faces were, and Charles licked his lips, and Erik’s eyes followed the movement and…

Charles closed the gap between them, their lips locking. His eyes fluttered shut as his mouth melted with Erik’s, and Erik swept the chess board aside with a flick of his hand. Charles was way too preoccupied with what Erik was doing with his tongue to notice how the metal chess pieces neatly flew to the floor, not even losing their positions on the board.

Wordlessly, Charles hopped onto the counter, ending up sprawled across it with Erik ontop of him, kissing him softly. Erik’s hands grazed lightly down Charles’ sides, while Charles’ were caught up in Erik’s hair, and on the curve of his neck, pulling him deeper into the embrace.

**_What the hell, Charles?_ ** Charles froze as the sound of his sisters voice filled his head.

This made Erik look up, and his eyes landed on Raven who was stood in the doorway. Immediately, Erik raised his hand towards Raven, somehow sending a metal chair flying toward her. She yelled as the chair seemed to wrap around her wrists, effectively  pinning her to the wall.

Erik backed away from Charles, and raised his hand to him too. Charles found that he couldn’t get up to follow, his wrist watch seemingly welded to the counter.

Erik’s hands were trained on the both of them, and they were keeping Charles and Raven in place. He was a mutant. Charles shot a worried look at Raven as best as he could from his position.

“Shut him down, Charles,” Raven burst out, still struggling against her metallic bonds.

“No, I can’t-” Charles began to reply, when Erik interrupted him.

“You’re mutants?”

Charles nodded frantically. It was all over now. The game was up.  **_Did you even manage to destroy the research?_ ** he asked Raven, who shook her head sorrowfully.

**_I’m sorry Charles, I couldn’t find the key._ **

It hadn’t even been worth it.

“Prove it,” Erik ordered purposefully, unaware of the telepathic bad news being delivered in front of him.

Hesitantly, after sharing a look with Charles, Raven shifted into her natural blue state, then back to her human disguise. Erik seemed pleased with this, and now turned to Charles, who slowly raised his hand to his forehead.

**_Erik. I’m so sorry, we’re fellow mutants, please-_ **

Erik jumped at the telepathic contact, then waved his hand to signal that he’d heard enough from Charles. He breathed out, and Charles started to think, maybe he should knock Erik out. Even if it hurt him, it might be there only way of escape now. Although, it seemed his wrist was quite well attached to the counter, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to get out of it without Erik’s help. Charles and Raven would just end up staying there incarcerated all night, only to be found the next morning by someone with the unconscious body of a security guard. It was possible that that was the better alternative: he didn’t know what Erik was planning to do with them.

That was why Charles was shocked when Erik waved his hand and released them both. Charles struggled out of his compromising position, quickly jumping down from the counter, and then waited for Erik to say something.

Erik lifted an eyebrow at Charles’ wary look, and casually floated a keychain out from his pocket. Despite himself, Charles couldn’t help but notice how attractive that was.

“I suppose you were looking for this?” Erik asked, now looking at Raven.

“Ummm…” was all Raven said, before Charles nodded eagerly.

“Yes!”

Erik grinned, a countenance that looked quite fierce and kept Charles and Raven on edge, as they waited for an explanation.

“I’m not real campus security. I drugged Harris’ tea earlier in the day so that he would be too ill to come into work tonight, and I took his place so that I could sabotage Stryker’s research, before he hands it in tomorrow.”

It took a moment for this to sink in.

“So… you’re not going to arrest us?” Raven asked as the penny dropped.

“No, you can go,” Erik announced.

But when Raven made the motion for Charles to follow her out, Charles stayed right where he was, giving Erik a pointedly hopeful smile.

Erik rolled his eyes at Charles’ blatancy, but couldn’t help but smile as he went and picked up the piece of paper with Charles’ number on. “And I guess I’ll call you if there’s any more law breaking to do for mutants’ rights,” he smirked.

Charles grinned back before joining his sister in a stealthy exit.

Definitely a successful sabotage.


End file.
